Science News-Getting Fat to ‘Talk’ Again Could Lower Blood Glucose and Weight

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Medical News Getting Fat to ‘Talk’ Again Could Lower Blood Glucose and Weight Diabetes is a tough disease to manage. Oral medications, insulin shots, close monitoring of blood sugar, dietary changes and exercise can all factor into a person’s treatment regimen. Now researchers are exploring a novel, simpler approach: implant... – American Chemical Society (ACS) 254th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Embargo expired on 22-Aug-2017 at 05:00 ET Largest Study of Its Kind Reveals Women Have Superior Response to Esophageal Cancer Treatment Female patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer that is treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy before surgery are more likely to have a favorable response to the treatment than male patients are, and women are less likely to experien... – The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Embargo expired on 22-Aug-2017 at 00:00 ET Retention of One Normal Version of BRCA Gene in Breast and Ovarian Cancers Influences Patient Survival, According to Penn-Led Study Researchers found a relationship between the genetics of tumors with germline BRCA1/2 mutations and whether the tumor retains the normal copy of the BRCA1/2 gene, and risk for primary resistance to a common chemotherapy that works by destroying cance... – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania W81XWH-13-1-0338, 5T32GM008638-15 Embargo expired on 22-Aug-2017 at 05:00 ET Comprehensive Genomic Analysis Offers Insights into Causes of Wilms Tumor Development Mutations involving a large number of genes converge on two pathways during early kidney development that lead to Wilms tumor – Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Nature Genetics Embargo expired on 21-Aug-2017 at 11:05 ET Researchers Report Link Between Cells Associated with Aging and Bone Loss Mayo Clinic researchers have reported a causal link between senescent cells – the cells associated with aging and age-related disease – and bone loss in mice. Targeting these cells led to an increase in bone mass and strength. The findings appear... – Mayo Clinic Nature Medicine Embargo expired on 21-Aug-2017 at 11:00 ET Researchers Identify Key Compounds to Resolve Abnormal Vascular Growth in Age-Related Macular Degeneration A compound of specific bioactive products from a major family of enzymes reduced the severity of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a preclinical model, according to a new study led by Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers. – Massachusetts Eye and Ear Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Embargo expired on 21-Aug-2017 at 15:00 ET Is Childhood Obesity a Psychological Disorder? A team of researchers, including senior investigator, Bradley Peterson, MD, director of the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, used fMRI to investigate neural responses to food cues in overweight compared with lea... – Children's Hospital Los Angeles Saban Research Institute NeuroImage, August 2017; K99R00DK088360; R01DK074046; DK080153 High Moral Reasoning Associated with Increased Activity in the Human Brain’s Reward System Individuals who have a high level of moral reasoning show increased activity in the brain’s frontostriatal reward system, both during periods of rest and while performing a sequential risk taking and decision making task according to a new study fr... – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Scientific Reports, Aug-2017; R03DA027098; R01HL102119; R01 MH107571; R21DA032022; P30NS045839; TP2016020; 31070984; 31400872 Brain’s Self-Regulation in Teens at Risk for Obesity Study uses fMRI brain scans to document relationship between neural activity and risk for obesity – Johns Hopkins Medicine NeuroImage; K99R00DK088360, R01DK074046, DK080153 New Recommendations for Managing Menopausal Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors A large proportion of the world’s estimated 9.3 million breast cancer survivors experience menopausal symptoms or clinical manifestations of estrogen deficiency. A comprehensive review published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endo... – Endocrine Society Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Aug-2017 Clinical Study Shows That Retinal Imaging May Detect Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease A study led by researchers at Cedars-Sinai and NeuroVision Imaging LLC provides the scientific basis for using noninvasive eye imaging to detect the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. The experimental technology, developed by Cedars-Sinai and N... – PR Pacific JCI Insight, Aug. 17, 2017 Researchers Find Genetic Mutation That Encourages Longevity in Men ... – University of Haifa People with Autism Spectrum Disorder Show Neural Responses of Anxiety on Seeing Social Touch People with strong signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show neural signs of anxiety when they see social touch and report unpleasant feelings about social touch by comparison to people with weak signs of ASD. This finding has emerged from a new s... – University of Haifa The Blue Light Emitted by Screens Damages Our Sleep A new joint study by the University of Haifa and Assuta Sleep Clinic has found that exposure of two hours prior to sleep to the blue light emitted by screens damages the quality of sleep. Exposure to screens that emitted "ordinary" red light, yielded... – University of Haifa Eye Scan for Alzheimer's, Eclipse Watching Tips, New Hope for Retinitis Pigmentosa, and More in the Vision News Source The latest research and feature news on vision in the Vision News Source – Newswise Medalist Study Underlines Importance of Blood Glucose Control in Older Adults with Type 1 Diabetes “People are living longer with type 1 diabetes, and the onset of complications is taking longer,” says Hillary Keenan, Ph.D., a Joslin Diabetes Center Assistant Investigator and co-Principal Investigator on the Joslin 50-Year Medalist Study. – Joslin Diabetes Center Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolis Spaser Can Detect, Kill Circulating Tumor Cells to Prevent Cancer Metastases, Study Finds A nanolaser known as the spaser can serve as a super-bright, water-soluble, biocompatible probe capable of finding metastasized cancer cells in the blood stream and then killing these cells, according to a new research study. – Georgia State University Nature Communications Nanotechnology Helps Rewarm Fast-Frozen Donor Tissue, Enabling Long-Term Viability Researchers have developed a new method for thawing frozen tissue that may enable long-term storage and subsequent viability of tissues and organs for transplantation. The method, called nanowarming, prevents tissue damage during the rapid thawing pr... – National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering EB 015894; Science Translational Medicine CRI Scientists Discover Vitamin C Regulates Stem Cell Function and Suppresses Leukemia Development Not much is known about stem cell metabolism, but a new study from the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) has found that stem cells take up unusually high levels of vitamin C, which then regulates their function a... – UT Southwestern Medical Center Nature Research Reveals Potential Target for Alcohol Liver Disease BOSTON - Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver, but investigators have discovered a protective response in the organ that might be targeted to help treat alcoholic liver disease. The team - led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical... – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Molecular Metabolism, Aug-2017; DK028082; NIDDK P30 DK034854; 12CRP11920045; 1P30 ES013508-05; UL1TR000003 Johns Hopkins Materials Scientists Probe a Protein’s Role in Speeding Ebola’s Spread Scientists have pinpointed how a tiny protein seems to make the deadly Ebola virus particularly contagious. – Johns Hopkins University Journal of Virology, May-2017; 1157687 Once Invincible Superbug Squashed by ‘Superteam’ of Antibiotics University at Buffalo researchers have assembled a team of three antibiotics that, together, are capable of eradicating E. coli carrying mcr-1 and ndm-5 — genes that make the bacterium immune to last-resort antibiotics. – University at Buffalo mBio Personal Tragedy Gives Rare Disease Patient New Resolve Dan Seftick thought his biggest challenge in life was his rare disease, dermatomyositis. When his son Greg tragically died in an avalanche while hiking in Grand Tetons National Park, he discovered there can be much bigger mountains to climb. – Myositis Association An Opening for Early Detection: What Your Mouth Says About Your Health Dentists and hygienists see more than just teeth. They can see early signs of certain diseases — often before patients know they have them. – University of Alabama at Birmingham New ‘SIREN’ Network Seeks to Improve Emergency Care Clinical Trials Michigan Medicine will serve as the clinical coordinating center of a new emergency care clinical trial network. How the federally funded network seeks to improve patient outcomes from emergency conditions. – Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan ROP Screenings Help Save Vision in Premature Infants A screening program conducted by University of Alabama at Birmingham Callahan Eye Hospital ophthalmologists is helping cut negative outcomes from ROP in infants by half. – University of Alabama at Birmingham ISPOR/ISPE Announce Plans for “Summit on Real-World Evidence in Health Care Decision Making” The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) and the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) announced their plans for a 1-day conference focused on real-world evidence. The “ISPOR/ISPE Summit on Real-... – International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) ISPOR/ISPE Summit on Real-World Evidence in Health Care Decision Making Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center Physician Stephen Rice, M.D., Receives Prestigious Sports Medicine Award Stephen Rice, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., FACSM, FAAP, program director of the Pediatric Sports Medicine Fellowship program and director of the Sports Medicine and Concussion Center at Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center, has b... – Hackensack Meridian Health $4 Million in Multi-Source Support Aids DNA Repair Research by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and National Cancer Institute Investigators Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research are collaborating on work examining DNA repair in cancer thanks to $4 million in support including $2 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundat... – Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Global Group to Investigate Genetic Causes of Cerebral Palsy A new international research group has been established to investigate the underlying genetic causes of cerebral palsy. – University of Adelaide Texas Biomed Part of Team Receiving Five-Year, $4.4 Million NIH Grant for Novel TB Vaccine Testing Texas Biomedical Research Institute UTHealth in Houston partner to test a modified TB vaccine that, if effective, could prove more powerful and provide longer lasting immunity. – Texas Biomedical Research Institute R01AI122070 Science News Turning Human Waste Into Plastic, Nutrients Could Aid Long-Distance Space Travel (Video) Imagine you’re on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you’ll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemicals to make a n... – American Chemical Society (ACS) 254th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Embargo expired on 22-Aug-2017 at 05:00 ET Cyborg Bacteria Outperform Plants When Turning Sunlight Into Useful Compounds (Video) Photosynthesis provides energy for the vast majority of life on Earth. But chlorophyll, the green pigment that plants use to harvest sunlight, is relatively inefficient. To enable humans to capture more of the sun’s energy than natural photosynthes... – American Chemical Society (ACS) 254th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Embargo expired on 22-Aug-2017 at 05:00 ET ‘Coffee-Ring Effect’ Harnessed to Provide Rapid, Low-Cost Analysis of Tap Water (Video) “What’s in your water?” has become an increasingly fraught question for many people in the U.S. and around the world. Getting the answer isn’t always easy or cheap. Today, scientists are reporting that they are using the familiar “coffee-ri... – American Chemical Society (ACS) 254th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Embargo expired on 22-Aug-2017 at 05:00 ET A Potential Breeding Site of a Miocene Era Baleen Whale Baleen whales are amongst the largest animals to have ever lived and yet very little is known about their breeding habits. One researcher’s second look at previously found baleen whale fossils from Japan provides new evidence of a now long-gone bre... – PeerJ PeerJ Embargo expired on 22-Aug-2017 at 07:00 ET Scientists Create ‘Diamond Rain’ That Forms in the Interior of Icy Giant Planets In an experiment designed to mimic the conditions deep inside the icy giant planets of our solar system, scientists were able to observe “diamond rain” for the first time as it formed in high-pressure conditions. Extremely high pressure squeezes ... – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Nature Astronomy, August 21st Embargo expired on 21-Aug-2017 at 11:00 ET Targeted Forest Regeneration: A Blueprint for Conserving Tropical Biological Diversity? A new University of Utah-led study shows that targeted forest regeneration among the largest and closest forest fragments in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and the Atlantic Forest of Brazil can dramatically reduce extinction rates of bird spec... – University of Utah Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Embargo expired on 21-Aug-2017 at 15:00 ET Evolutionary Arms “Chase” The study analyzed multiple species of Inga, a genus of tropical trees that produces defensive chemicals, and their various insect herbivores. The researchers found that closely-related plants evolved very different defensive traits. Additionally, th... – University of Utah Embargo expired on 21-Aug-2017 at 15:00 ET When Fish Swim in the Holodeck Behavior experiments are useful tools to study brain function. Standard experiments to investigate behavior in popular lab animals such as fish, flies or mice however only incompletely mimic natural conditions. The understanding of behavior and brain... – University of Vienna Nature Methods Embargo expired on 21-Aug-2017 at 11:00 ET includes video Before the Flood: What Drives Preparedness? More targeted efforts are needed from both the public and private insurance sectors in order to encourage people to take action to reduce their risk of flood damage, according to a new study of three European countries. – International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Risk Analysis DOI:10.1111/risa.12881 Quantum Ruler for Biomolecules Quantum physics teaches us that unobserved particles may propagate through space like waves. This is philosophically intriguing and of technological relevance: a research team at the University of Vienna has demonstrated that combining experimental q... – University of Vienna Angewandte Chemie New Flying Squirrel Species Discovered Along North America’s Pacific Coast Scientists always assumed it was a northern flying squirrel gliding through the canopies of Pacific coastal forests. – Humboldt State University Journal of Mammalogy A New Oxidation State for Plutonium Plutonium has more verified and accessible oxidation states than any other actinide element, an important insight for energy and security applications. – Department of Energy, Office of Science Journal of the American Chemical Society 139, 3970-3973 (2017). [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b00706] A Traffic Cop for Molecules Easily manufactured, rigid membranes with ultra-small pores provides to be ultra-selective in separating chemicals. – Department of Energy, Office of Science Nature Materials 16, 289-297 (2017). [DOI: 10.1038/nmat4805] Biofuels From Bacteria Can a group of three single-celled, algae-like organisms produce high quantities of sugar just right for making biofuels? Laboratory results indicate that they can. Sandia National Laboratories is helping Bay Area-based HelioBioSys understand whether... – Sandia National Laboratories New Funding for High Frequency Radar Sites at the Mouth of the Mississippi Will Help Make Gulf Safer GCOOS has received $450,000 for two new High Frequency Radar (HFR) sites near the mouth of the Mississippi River. – Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System-Regional Association (GCOOS-RA) includes video South Dakota State University Ranks 27th in World, 7th in U.S. For Remote Sensing Research South Dakota State University was ranked 27th worldwide and 7th in the United States for research productivity in the area of remote sensing, according to ShanghaiRanking’s 2017 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. – South Dakota State University Lifestyle & Social Sciences Smileys? Not at Work A new study has found that using a smiley in a work-related email to a stranger makes the recipient perceive the sender as less capable. “While an actual smile has a positive impact on creating an initial impression, adding a smiley can harm the pe... – University of Haifa Sales Newbies, Don’t Fret. Just Go Above and Beyond Good news for novice salespeople worried about becoming successful: Expressing your gratitude to customers by going above and beyond your job description may be as effective as developing long-term relationships with them, indicates a first-of-its-ki... – Michigan State University NUS Study: You May Be as Friendly as Your Genes A group of researchers from the National University of Singapore has found that young adults who have higher expression of the CD38 gene as well as differences in CD157 gene sequence are friendlier and more socially adept than others. They have more ... – National University of Singapore Psychoneuroendocrinology, April 2017, Volume 78, Pages 185–192 From the Dentist’s Office to the Mud Of "Texas Cotton": Geoge Hardy, "Troll 2" Cult-Classic Movie Star and UAB School of Dentistry Graduate, Preps for His Third Sidewalk Film Festival Experience Alex City, Alabama, dentist George Hardy will star in the premiere of the short film “Texas Cotton” this week at the Birmingham Sidewalk Film Festival. Hardy has become an icon among cult-movie enthusiasts for his turn in “Troll 2” and the s... – University of Alabama at Birmingham includes video Providing Support for Individuals Experiencing Relationship Problems: Tips for Clinicians, Family Members, and Friends When couples are dissatisfied in their relationship, couple therapy, in which both members of the couple participate in the treatment, has become one of the most widely practiced interventions. The effectiveness of couple therapy in improving couple ... – Family Institute at Northwestern University Gala to Benefit State Works Scholarship Program The cost of a college education came with sticker shock for Nuri Rodriguez and she knew she needed to address it from the start of her freshmen year at Indiana State University. – Indiana State University Business News ‘Fashnology’ a Factor for Picking Wearable Devices From fitness bands to smart glasses, wearable technology has grown in popularity in recent years. But what prompts people to put on a wearable device? A recent study conducted by researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology provides s... – Missouri University of Science and Technology International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction

Russian flight attendant sues airline for discrimination

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LOBNYA, Russia (AP) — "Old, fat and ugly" is what Yevgeniya Magurina jokingly calls a group of flight attendants of Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot who she claims have been sidelined in an apparent drive to make the cabin crew younger and more physically attractive. She is one of just two women who have taken one of the world's largest airlines to court for that.

(1 of 3) Some of Aeroflot's flight attendants pose for a photo at the World's Best Airline at the 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards celebration at Paris Air Show, in Le Bourget, east of Paris, France. The Moscow City Court is to due to rule in the case of two flight attendants who are suing Russia's flagship airline for taking them off the prestigious long-haul flights because of their looks.

August 21, 2017

A Moscow court is due to rule on Tuesday in Magurina's lawsuit against Aeroflot in which she maintains she was taken off the sought-after long-haul international flights because of her looks. The flight attendant's claim, which triggered a wave of support as well condemnation, has put the spotlight on how women in modern Russia are still often judged by their physical appearance.

The first warning shot rang for Magurina last summer when the 42-year old went to pick up a new uniform and discovered that Aeroflot no longer stocks any above Russian size 48 (U.S. size 10). Magurina, who says size 48 fits her on the hips but not on the breast, used to order a larger size and get it tailored. Then, all flight attendants were ordered to be weighed and photographed as part of a contest to staff a special business class crew. Several months later, Magurina, who had typically worked as senior attendant, arrived at the Sheremetyevo airport for her flight only to see she was assigned a junior role: "You scan your pass, the names of the crew light up and you see your position. No one has even told me."

Magurina, one of Aeroflot's 7,000 cabin crew staff, says about 600 flight attendants, mostly women, have been put on a list that she jokingly calls the "old, fat and ugly" and have been re-assigned for less prestigious flights. Like others, Magurina was taken off the long-haul international flights and put on the lower-paid domestic ones:

"No one cares about professionalism — you have to be young, slim and pretty," says Magurina who lives in the suburb of Lobnya near the airport, home to thousands of Aeroflot staff. Local courts in April dismissed Magurina's lawsuit as well as a similar claim by another flight attendant, Irina Ierusalimskaya. The Moscow City Court is expected to rule on Magurina's appeal on Tuesday.

Aeroflot in recent years has undertaken to transform itself from a drab post-Soviet airline to something that can rival the world's best airlines on comfort and efficiency. Its most recent efforts included a five-year partnership deal with FC Manchester United and enlisting well-known chefs to create menus for its business class passengers.

But there has been controversy, too. An online forum of flight attendants in 2010 published what appeared to be a mock-up of a calendar with a nude woman wearing a flight attendant's red hat and white gloves and posing by an Aeroflot plane and inside the cabin. The company promptly denied that it had commissioned the shoot and said it would investigate how a photographer and a model were allowed to get inside the plane.

The airline that posted 38.8 billion rubles ($650 million) in net profit last year has recently been rated four out of five stars by the Skytrax consultancy and has entered the world's top 20 airlines by the number of passengers carried.

Aeroflot has dismissed Magurina and Ierusalimskaya's lawsuits as "a routine employee vs. employer dispute that has been deliberately inflated to the scale of a public campaign aimed at tarnishing the airline's reputation," according to Vladimir Alexandrov, the company's deputy CEO for legal matters.

When asked whether the company has stopped stocking XL uniforms for female cabin crew staff, Alexandrov told the Associated Press that Aeroflot does not disclose its "internal rules and regulations" He added, however, that the cabin crew's job is "physically and psychologically demanding."

The two women's court battle with Russia's biggest airline has attracted a wave support from some and condemnation from others. At a news conference in April, a member of Aeroflot's public council argued it was "quite acceptable to pay for good looks."

"Aeroflot is a premium airline, and the staff's looks is definitely one of the things the clients pay for," Pavel Danilin, himself an overweight man, said. Aeroflot told the AP members of its public council do not speak on the company's behalf.

Often the one to voice a common but unpalatable public opinion, Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite turned prominent journalist, said that she understands why Aeroflot would not want to get rid of older and less physically attractive women.

"If you build a beautiful company, you have the right to demand that your staff look good," Sobchak said on the Dozhd television channel after the April ruling. "Why would you become a flight attendant if your butt is this big?"

Yulia Zakharova, a Moscow-based clinical psychologist, said the public reaction to the trial shows that Russia is still a largely patriarchal society despite the decades of Communist slogans of gender equality.

"New values are seeping in slowly but the patriarchy is still very much alive," Zakharova said. In Soviet times "women were 'equal' in a sense that she was to 'go and get a job' but then she would come home and make dinner. These expectations are still there."

The fact that the female flight attendants are reportedly expected to stay well below size L while men are allowed wear XL shows how underprivileged women are in Russia. "Society judges women with the eyes of a young man," Zakharova said.

Migurina, who keeps two sets of size 48 Aeroflot uniform in her closet, says she is upset that her decade of work as a flight attendant and seven years with Aeroflot has been cancelled out by a few inches.

"Right now there's a policy that a flight attendant has to be sexually attractive," she says. "But our role onboard is different: it's to ensure safety, not to be an object of sexual desire. This is wrong and hurtful."

German nationalists try reviving migration as election topic

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BERLIN (AP) — Germany's anti-immigrant AfD party pushed Monday to make the massive influx of migrants into the country an election issue as it battles with flagging support, despite waning concern among Germans over the matter.

(1 of 1) Alice Weidel, left, and Alexander Gauland, right, top candidates of the German AfD (Alternative for Germany) party for the upcoming general elections, attend a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.

August 21, 2017

More than 1 million migrants entered Germany in 2015-2016. Alternative for Germany leaders Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel told reporters in Berlin they think the wave of newcomers has led to increased crime, an overwhelmed educational system and an "Islamization of society."

"The big number of migrants cannot be integrated in the long run," Weidel said, calling for tougher asylum laws. She also advocated shutting down the Mediterranean Sea route from Libya to Europe that many migrants use and accused the Germany navy of participating in human trafficking by assisting migrant boats in distress.

The AfD's support has dropped ahead of the Sept. 24 election to 7 percent in the most recent polls, half of what the party had at the height of the immigration crisis. Support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc dropped during the influx and its aftermath, but has rebounded to about 39 percent. Merkel's campaign speeches have focused more on the country's growing economy and record low unemployment.

Like Merkel's Christian Democrats, most other parties have not made migration a major issue of their election campaigns. Germany, like several other European countries, has suffered a number of extremist attacks, some of which were committed by asylum-seekers who came to the country in the 2015 wave.

In an interview published Monday by Bild newspaper, Merkel was asked to comment on migrants in Germany who have committed crimes or violent attacks. "Unfortunately, there are a few refugees, who have done such things," Merkel answered, adding: "There are also many, many others who need protection."

The chancellor said the government is doing all it can to prevent "such attacks, such murders, to prevent Islamist terror." She also said Germany has learned from past attacks and "we've become quite a bit better."